Ornithology of Northern Africa. 161 



When from the denizens of the Tell, oi- Barbary Proper, we 

 direct our attention to the inhabitants of the Desert and its 

 oases, a very different result rewards our investigation. Here, 

 out of a much more limited Fauna, we find no less than 38 

 species whose wings have never borne them across the Medi- 

 terranean. Unwonted and often uncouth forms meet us with 

 scientific names to match (like Rhamphocoris clotbey), most 



was particularly anxious to find the nest of Anas rufina. He told me he 

 had frequently taken the eggs, and had sent as many as forty of ' le Grand 

 Siffleur Huppe' to Paris, receiving three francs a piece. He showed me 

 some he had, which bore a striking resemblance to those of A. nyroca 

 (a very unmistakeable egg for a duck), which was abundant on the lake; 

 while of Anas rufina we never saw but one pair. I assured him of his 

 mistake ; but he was positive, and showed me a letter desiring him to send 

 more of this said ' Grand Siffleur Huppe !' At length one day, as I was 

 with him in his boat, a duck rose from its nest ; he fired, and brought 

 down an Anas rufina ; and I found one egg in the nest, of the lovely pale 

 green characteristic of this bird. I exhibited it triumphantly. He turned 

 away in disgust, exclaiming, " Eh bien, c'est une variete extraordinaire ! " 

 Soon afterwards I saw eggs oi Anas nyroca in Paris marked as rufina; and 

 within the last year I have been amused at finding an exactly similar egg 

 doing duty for the whistUng duck in three British collections ; not, how- 

 ever, from Paris, but with inscriptions which told me that at one period of 

 their existence — whether at that of their transmutation or not I cannot say 

 — they had visited Copenhagen. 



My last adventure with the chasseur was ludicrous enough. He had 

 ofi'ered me eleven eggs of the Golden Eagle, which he said he got from the 

 Arabs, for 100 francs. I wrote to say that if he would bring the eggs, he 

 should have the money. In a few days he accordingly appeared at my 

 house with a clean-looking sitting of eleven eggs of Meleagris gallopavo, 

 var. domestica. I indignantly dismissed him for an impudent rogue, and 

 in a few days received a summons to appear in court for breach of contract. 

 My chasseur, his turkey eggs, and his avocat were there in due state. 

 The avocat produced my letter desiring him to bring ' les ceufs,' and he 

 should have his money. The chasseur swore that these were the eggs 

 alluded to, and moreover that they were those of ' I'Aigle Royal,' not of 

 ' le Dindon.' I affirmed the contrary. But when doctors differ, who 

 shall decide ? And M. le Juge decided that, as a chasseur, who had been 

 all his hfe among birds, was more likely to know an Eagle's egg than an 

 amateur, though certainly they did look to him very like turkey's, I ought 

 to beheve the chasseur and take the eggs. On my declaration of an ap- 

 peal, the prosecutor proposed to settle the afi'air out of court, which he 

 did by fan- promises and allowing 50 francs for boat hire. He has since 

 transferred his genius to poultry-dealing in Kabylia. 



